Dining Room Table
by Wild-Bananas
Summary: Inspired by a line from my story 'Romanticism.' Just a little Pepper and Tony in the time before he was Iron Man. UPDATE: Is now going to be a three-shot (is that even a word?) about Pepper getting hired and earning her nickname. Otherwise, the VERY early days.
1. Accounting Error

**This was inspired by this line: "**Pepper had never seen Tony actually eat at [a dining room table], and as far as she knew, he only ever sat at the one in Malibu once in all the time he lived there. (It had been in the pre-Iron Man days, and Tony had only sat there to distract Pepper while she worked.)" **from my story Romanticism. (begin shameless self promotion) You should go check it out! (end shameless self promotion)****  
**

**So this story was going to be a oneshot about Tony annoying Pepper while she tries to work, but I got caught up in the story of how they met. So now it's a twoshot. Chapter 1 is Tony meets Pepper, chapter 2 is the titular chapter involving the table. Enjoy :)**

* * *

Virginia hadn't been working for Anthony Stark long when she realized exactly what kind of job she had gotten herself into. She had been a secretary in the accounting office before she worked for Mr. Stark. She crunched numbers, answered phones, and wrote memos.

She hated it.

Sure, Virginia had always been work-oriented (workaholic, drudge, or enslaved drone were also words her loved ones used freely), but this job was killing her. She didn't even mind the amount of work she had to do, but the sheer tediousness of it made her want to scream. So when one day something new happened, she pounced on it.

"There's an error in these books," Virginia had said, placing the offending articles on her supervisor's table.

He laughed. "Those are _Tony Stark's_ personal records. He doesn't make mistakes."

"Well apparently he did," Virginia countered. "If you'll just look here–"

Her boss leaned forward in his chair. "Listen, kid, if you think your city college education can spot you an error in MIT's valedictorian's math, why don't you take it up with him?" He taunted.

Virginia glared, and with a huff left her boss's office, muttering to herself once she was out that she _didn't_ go to city college.

But Virginia didn't give up. Virginia Potts never gives up. Later that week, on one of the rare days Anthony Stark could actually be caught in his office, she went to see him, ledger in hand.

"Excuse me ma'am, can we help you?" A large bodyguard outside Mr. Stark's office had asked.

"Yes, I need to speak with Mr. Stark. There appears to be a mistake–"

"Nobody's allowed in Mr. Stark's office," he cut her off.

"Really, it will only take a second." She reached forward toward the door handle and the bodyguard, along with his silent but equally large buddy, stepped in front of her.

"Mr. Stark has requested that nobody be allowed in his office," he repeated.

"Well I'm sure when he issued that order he didn't know that he had made a–"

"Nobody," he said bluntly.

Virginia fumed. She was tired of these dead end people at her dead end job telling her she was wrong when she was right. "If you don't let me through that door right now, I swear to God I will pepper spray the both of you until I get in."

The bodyguard glared at her. It was an angry, intimidating glare, and though she wanted to shrink away from him, instead she puffed out her chest and glared back with equal ferocity.

The bodyguard opened his mouth to speak, but before he could,

"Let her in." The voice had come from within the office, and she vaguely recognized it as Tony Stark's from all the news scandals she'd seen him in.

Virginia couldn't stop the small, smug smile that crept upon her face. The bodyguard frowned deeply, but opened the door regardless.

Virginia strode across the room to Anthony Stark's desk. He was reclined in a very expensive looking chair with his legs up on his desk, crossed at his ankles. He wore an amused smile as he regarded Virginia.

"Can I help you?" He asked. His tone was almost teasing, and Virginia didn't know whether or not he actually cared about what she had to say or if he was just bored and hoping she would amuse him.

"I believe I'm here to help you," she announced, opening the ledger to the section she circled in green and placing it forcefully on the desk in front of Anthony Stark's feet.

He remained amused as he pulled his legs off his desk to examine the book on the table. He picked it up, and for a moment, his amused smile turned surprised, then impressed. Finally, he went back to amused before turning to speak to her.

"You found this, Pepperspray?"

"Virginia," she corrected, frowning at the nickname. "And yes. I tried to show it to my supervisor, but he wouldn't believe that Anthony Stark could make a mistake."

"Tony," he corrected her this time, "and I do make mistakes. Usually because I'm drunk when I write out these things. My assistant is supposed to look over them for me before they're submitted, but she quit on me the other day. Just stormed off. I don't know what got into her." The smile on his face said he knew _exactly_ what had gotten into her.

He turned pensive for a moment, then stood up. He walked around his desk, staring at her and running his fingers up and down the small beard he wore. He circled her, looking up and down, seemingly considering her high heels and power suit. She wasn't sure when he was doing, exactly, but she had the feeling it involved him imagining her naked. Before she could say something about it, though, he spoke.

"Alright, you're hired."

"What!?" She yelped before she could even try to compose herself.

"You're hired, Pepperspray. You're my new personal assistant." He said it like it was obvious, then abruptly and openly stared at her face, watching her reaction.

"I… I…"

"You accept! Wonderful. How about a glass of champagne to celebrate? I have some just over here."

While Virginia struggled to figure out what the hell had just happened, Tony had poured two glasses of champagne. _Well, you _did_ want a different job, didn't you?_ Her conscious quizzed her.

"I–"

"You start tomorrow. I'll meet you here at nine AM to sort out your contract. Actually, make it noon. I hate nine AM." He walked back across the room with the two flutes of champagne and put one in Virginia's hand.

"I–"

"You'll get paid double whatever you're making now, but you may end up working some odd hours," he admitted. He smiled, clinked his glass against hers, and took a swig of his drink.

"I–" She stopped herself, this time, thinking. This was crazy. She can't just get hired after meeting the man once. He didn't even read her resume; he didn't even check her references! _He can't be serious_, she decided. She glanced at Mr. Stark, he looked amused, tipping his champagne to his mouth once more, but completely serious.

_Oh, what the hell!_

She smiled at him, and he smiled back. He raised his glass towards her, inviting her to tap it with her own.

"I don't drink on the job," she said, placing her champagne on Tony's desk. She turned on her heel and strode out of the room. "I'll see you at noon tomorrow, Mr. Stark."

"Tony!" He corrected, calling after her as she opened his door. Once she was gone, he smiled to himself, thinking he had finally caught a winner.

* * *

**For the record, this is not 'and that was the day Tony fell madly in love.' It's more, 'and that was the day Tony hired his hot, ass-kicking assistant.'**

**Next chapter up soon, I hope. My computer has been bugging out on me a bit...  
**


	2. First Day- Still No Table

**Ok, I lied, apparently. This story seriously just gets away from me. Pepper and Tony are just _too_ fun to write. So there is no dining room table in this chapter either, but I swear, I'm getting to it! Next chapter for sure! (if all goes according to plan, which it will, because I hold a PhD in horribleness **(Oops, wrong fandom)**) **

**Hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

Virginia arrived at Tony Stark's office at five to twelve the next day in her a usual power suit and high heels. Mr. Stark wasn't there yet, so she didn't have to deal with the bodyguards this time. She was nervous. She'd spent all night worrying. She hoped that Mr. Stark had alerted her old supervisor of her promotion, so it didn't seem like she had just ditched work today. She tried to tell herself that of course he would have notified her supervisor; _he can't be _that_ irresponsible._ But more than just that, she worried that this whole thing hadn't been serious. Busting into an office, being looked over, stared at, and prodded, then being offered a job was just _not_ something that happened.

Virginia took a deep breath to calm herself. Regardless of worry, she would wait for her new boss. At twelve o' five, she began to worry again. By twelve thirty, she was forming an ulcer. Finally, at twelve forty-seven, Virginia heard footsteps outside the office, and Tony Stark dramatically threw open the double doors.

There he stood, in a button down shirt that was unbuttoned most of the way. The wife beater he wore under it looked like it had been stained with grease, freshly in some places, and washed and faded in others. His dark pants were loose and wrinkled, and his hair stuck out in every direction. If nothing else, this Tony Stark more resembled the one she saw on TV than the well-suited one she'd met yesterday.

"Hey, am I late?" he asked casually. His entrance and his tone would have been enough to shock Virginia into a stunned silence (again), but she had been preparing for Tony Stark since their encounter yesterday.

It still took her a second to pull herself together enough to say, "Only forty-seven minutes late, Mr. Stark." She'd responded equally as casual, though she guessed Tony Stark had picked up on her pause. He was still wearing that amused, and a little smug, smile from yesterday.

"Tony," he corrected her. "Forty-seven, really? That's nice. Usually people are yelling that it's been at least an hour or something." He waved one hand around as if the nerve of those people annoyed him. "And you're feisty. Witty. I like it. It goes well with your hair."

No amount of telling herself, 'I will not let Tony Stark get to me,' in the mirror last night could have prepared her for that line. She struggled to even understand what it meant.

"Hmm... Maybe not," he corrected, putting one hand on his chin in thought. "You're not so much a bright, fiery redhead as a strawberry blonde," he mused. He stared intensely at her as he continued to think for a few moments. "Do you like strawberries?" he asked suddenly.

Virginia wondered if she would ever get used to Tony Stark's confusing lines of thought. "What? Oh. No, I'm allergic, actually."

He frowned a little. "Well that ruins _that_ idea."

Virginia decided that this was a good time to change the subject. "Did you bring the papers?"

He stared at her, openly confused, utterly bewildered. It was if he'd never heard the language she'd just spoken.

"My contract," she clarified.

His eyes widened in understanding and he snapped his finger. "Right, yes, that's why we're here."

Could he honestly have forgotten that?

"Well, you see, I was going to get my personal assistant to do that," he explained.

"I thought I _was_ your personal assistant."

"Exactly, so go get that sorted out and I'll sign where I need to and we'll be all good." He said this as if it were the most simple, obvious thing in the world. "What did I promise you, triple your pay?"

"Double," she responded automatically. For a second, she wished she had kept her mouth shut, but she reminded herself that lying to her new boss was not a good way to start a job.

He seemed amused by her response. "Honesty. Good. Not something I shoot for all the time, but it's nice you do. Make it times two and a half, though. I like you, Pepperspray."

Virginia sighed. "Are you going to continue calling me Pepperspray?" she asked.

"Probably. What was your name again?"

"Virginia Potts."

He seemed to consider this deeply for a moment. "Yup. I will very likely continue to call you Pepperspray."

"I didn't even actually have pepper spray on me yesterday. I was just saying that so your bodyguards would let me through," she admitted.

"And the plot thickens," Tony Stark teased with a wide grin. "Well that solidifies it then. Pepperspray, for sure."

Virginia sighed. She was already exhausted from this conversation. It was time for business. "Shall I go get that contract written up, Mr. Stark?"

"Well I guess if I'm not calling you your name, you don't have to call me mine. I would appreciate it if you came up with something more creative than 'Mr. Stark,' though."

She didn't respond, she just stared at him (the other way around, for once!) seriously.

He ginned at her. "Ooh. Glares. Those fit with your hair wonderfully. Do you have another one-liner to go with that piercing stare or what?"

He continued to look at her expectantly. She waited.

Finally, he rolled his eyes. "Yes yes, get the contract," he acquiesced. "Have it say the same thing as my last assistant's, and remember two and a half."

Remembering her earlier worry, she asked, "Should I inform my old supervisor I won't be going back to his office?"

"Unless you plan on working two jobs at the same time."

"When should I bring it up for you to sign?" she asked, wondering how long it would take for the legal department to rush the contract. She imagined it couldn't take too long, who knows how many times they'd had to write up a new PA contract for Tony Stark already.

"Up, no. Over. I have a place in Malibu. Bring it with you when you come in for work tomorrow."

"Alright. Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"Are you always this formal?" he teased.

She flashed him her best 'professionally polite' smile.

He smiled back. "That will be all, Miss Potts," his voice was a mocking impression of her business tone, but his smile was genuine.

As she strode out of his office, her heels clicking against the floor satisfyingly, she found a strange thought in her head among the almost smug triumph of getting some business out of Tony Stark: _He's sort of handsome when he smiles_.

* * *

**See you for Chapter Three. Hopefully before the weekend ends.**


	3. Finally, The Table

**Finally, we get to the titular table, and I get to declare this story over. I tried to put some flirting in their conversation, but I just couldn't make it fit without making it seem forced...**

* * *

Virginia Potts had been working for Tony Stark for two months today. All of her work could be categorized into two elements: The first and easier part of her job was arranging meeting and galas and press events for Mr. Stark and his company. This included answering phones, writing emails, keeping a calendar, negotiating times and dates (and sometimes prices), and responding to all of the many people after a piece of Tony Stark's time. The second, much more difficult and frustrating half of her job was something she affectionately referred to as 'Tony wrangling' (she never used these words in front of him, of course. She could very easily picture the sly smile and weeks of innuendo that would follow if she did). This part of her job included actually _getting_ Mr. Stark to the events on the calendar, which meant she often had to wake him up, or pull him out of his lab, or convince him to play with hi AI later, or get him away from his newest girl-toy. Of course, he never submitted to any of it without a large dose of protest and he was almost always late, despite her best efforts. Over the last two months, however, Virginia had learned some tricks to get her boss to do the things he needed, and she had plenty of time to create and practice a variety of glares.

However crazy and frantic and frustrating running Tony Stark's hectic life was, though, she found she enjoyed it. Though Tony often acted more like a petulant child instead of the genius man he was, and though it seemed he sometimes went out of his way to irritate her, and though he flirted at her shamelessly (and sometimes _very_ inappropriately), she found she didn't mind. She actually liked the way Tony was. She actually liked the way he would ask intentionally shocking questions and then watch carefully for her reaction (she became more and more immune to this over time). She liked the dry and often dirty jokes he shot at her, and she knew he liked her quick, sharp responses. She liked all the different things he could say with a smile ('ok, you win,' 'just try to get me to leave this lab,' and of course, the most common, 'that's what she said'), and all the things she could respond with one of her own ('I know I win,' 'I _will_ get you upstairs and in a suit,' and 'I'm not acknowledging what you just said'). Working with Tony Stark was not by any means easy, but it was always interesting, and almost always enjoyable.

To better manage the second half of her job, Virginia had, like Tony, all but abandoned her office at Stark Industries to work in Tony Stark's very spacious home. This way, during her work hours, she was only ever a flight of stairs away (usually the flight connecting the first floor to Tony's garage/lab) from her boss. Her favorite workspace was Tony Stark's otherwise unused dining room table. He ate at kitchen counters, the sofa in the living room, in his lab, and sometimes walked around carrying his plate of food, but the man refused to sit at his own large, lovely, solid oak dining room table. Virginia loved the space. She could very easily fan out all the work she had to do and papers she needed to reference and set up her laptop.

Today was a day where she did just that. She was surrounded by the most recent test reports on some weapon Tony was building, and she was on the phone with Tony's old friend, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, discussing a meeting Tony had with a few military supervisors that both the men would be attending tomorrow (if she could get Tony out of bed). Out of nowhere, Tony approached her, a bottle of champagne and two glasses in hand.

He smiled at her, it said, 'get off the phone, I have something to say.'

She rolled her eyes at him and smiled back, 'one second,' "Yes, I'll make sure he's there tomorrow," she said into her phone. "As on time as I can possibly make him be," she promised. "Pleasure speaking to you too, Colonel. Goodbye." She hung up the phone.

"Rhodey?" Tony asked.

"Yes, you have a meeting with him and–"

"You lost me at meeting," he said, sitting down for the first time Virginia had ever seen in one of the dining room chairs. "It's a special day, Pepperspray!"

"Did you just rhyme intentionally?" she asked, looking back down at her computer.

"Of course not!" he said, feigning hurt. She didn't look up. "Yes," he admitted. "It took me twenty minutes to come up with the perfect line. But it _is_ a special day."

"And why is that?" she asked, flipping through some papers.

"Oh come on, stop working for a second, we're celebrating!" he complained.

She closed the folder she had in her hand and looked at him. "What exactly, are we celebrating, Mr. Stark? I have work to do."

"Grouch," he accused with his usual amused smile. "It's our two month anniversary!" he punctuated the sentence by popping the cork off the champagne.

Not long ago, Virginia would have been stunned into confused silence by his announcement. Now, though, she just raised one eyebrow at him. He just smiled at her, enjoying having confused her for the moment. Finally, she asked, "our what?"

"Two month anniversary!" he declared again. "You started working for me two months ago, and as of today, you have officially worked for me longer than any other PA I've ever had."

She sighed and shook her head. "Do you realize that that's actually sort of sad?"

"No. It's happy! Look, I even have champagne." As if she could have missed the champagne.

"I've told you already, Mr. Stark, I don't drink in the job," she reiterated.

"You ever gonna budge on that? I mean, I drink on the job all the time," he argued as he poured two glasses and extended one to her.

"Fine, the day I have your job, I'll take that champagne," she promised as she took the glass and immediately set it down on the table.

He over exaggerated a sigh. "Oh, Pepperspray," he said in mock disappointment. He took a sip of his champagne. "Pepper, Pepper, Pepperspray." He drank again, then stopped and fell into his 'concentration face,' as she'd started to call it when he was obviously lost in some thought.

"I like it," he declared.

"The champagne?" she asked, turning back to her work.

"No. Pepper. It's better. Pepperspray was too long. At least one syllable too long," he announced.

Practice be damned, she found herself astonished. "Did you just give my nickname a nickname?"

He smiled, proud that he finally surprised her again. "I did. And it's staying. Pepper Potts. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

She rolled her eyes at him. It _did_ have a nice ring, but she would never admit that she thought so.

"You like it," he accused. He sat back in his chair smugly. "I can tell."

She sighed, and turned on her serious face before looking back to her boss. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark."

His smile said victory as he stood, gathering his glass and the bottle but leaving hers on the table. "That will be all, Miss Potts," he responded, but he didn't leave. He stood, staring at her still.

She sighed, "What, Tony?" she asked.

He suddenly grinned at her. "You called me Tony, Pepper."

She hadn't even realized that she had, but by the time she was ready to retort, he was already gone. So instead, she took a deep breath and dove back into her work.

Maybe she could get used to being called Pepper.

* * *

**So there we have it, what was originally just going to be a cutesy, funny oneshot turned into this sort of Pepper Potts origin story. For the record, how pepper got hired and how she got her nickname are both canonically accurate.  
**

**Like I said above, I'd wanted to put in some flirting between them (more like Tony flirting _at_ Pepper than flirting _between_ them, but still), but I the way I have Pepper and Tony here, flirting would probably just get her annoyed and/or defensive immediately, and in this story I imagine Tony had wanted to tease Pepper a bit, but not get her to shut down to him right off the bat.**

**Maybe if some inspiration hits me I'll tack on another chapter to this with some meaningless flirting, though I think it would have to happen further into their working relationship...**


End file.
